Dress Fancy
by IHaveATheoryItCouldBeBunnies
Summary: Beca finds herself at Jesse Swanson's very fancy family garden party; she does not fit it. But, she promised Jesse she'd help him so here she is. It could be worse though; while the polite cnversation is boring a certain red-headed cousin of his does peek her interest. Bad summary but hopefully good story! Bechloe.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: THE FAVOUR

 _BUZZ BUZZ_

Beca picked up her phone from her bed. Facebook message from Jesse Swanson. Huh? Why was Jesse Swanson messaging her she wondered? Beca hadn't seen him for like 6 months and they'd only met about 3 times anyway. Beca unlocked her phone.

 **Jesse Swanson: Hey! Super weird but I need a massive favour! Please please please call me! 07070 707 070**

Jesse was one of Beca's best friends', best friends. She'd first met him at Stacie's 18th birthday over a year ago. They'd been sat opposite each other at dinner and when some of Stacie's other friends had left, he had moved to sit next to her. They'd got on pretty well and when they both left, he'd walked her back to her bus stop. Beca's friends had teased her no end, including taking a picture of the two of them and putting a love heart around them. They hadn't let it go for weeks, no, no, years. It had been hell, everytime Beca thought they'd let it go, the picture would pop up again. They'd also taken this piss out of Jesse over the summer at an 'end of school' party. She felt bad for the guy. He was sweet and they'd had a nice chat and Beca had at one point thought to herself that she might date him, but they hadn't spoken for months, so why was he messaging her? Jesse was now away at uni about 4 hours away as far as she knew studying music. So Beca dialled the number and waited.

"Hello?" Said a mans voice.

"Hey, Jesse, it's Beca…"

"Oh my god Beca thank you so so so much for calling!"

"No problem…I guess. What do you need?"

"So…my family's having this garden party next week and I NEED to bring someone. I asked Stacie and she suggested I ask you, seeing as you're the only person who's not at uni right now. Literally everyone else I know is away and I know we don't really know each other but it's super important that I don't show up alone."

Beca could hear the urgency and panic in his voice. "Alright, I'll try and get the weekend off work. Text me the address and let me know if I need to bring anything."

"Oh my god thank you thank you than you! Gotta go, but I'll let you know the details. Thank you!"

Well that was odd, Beca thought.

 _BUZZ BUZZ_

 **Jesse Swanson: 5 Park Road, Barden, BE1 1AS. Starts at 2 on Sat and if u could stay all evening that would be great! We have rooms to stay in if u need! Dress fancy. THANK U.**

On Saturday morning Beca started digging through her wardrobe. Dress fancy. Right. He pulled out a plain black dress that she thought as fairly inoffensive and began to do her makeup. At 1, she went downstairs.

"You look fancy," commented her dad.

"That is the plan. I'm going out today and possibly not coming back tonight, I don't know though, I'll keep you updated."

"Do you have a date?" aksed her father.

"Um to be honest I don't know what I have. So far I'm going with 'helping out a friend.' Well technically a friend of a friend. One of Stacie's friends needed a favour and I offered so…now I'm fancy."

"Well, okay then," he replied, not quite knowing what to make of this. "Let me know if you're coming home and don't drink and drive."

"Bye dad, love you!"

Beca left. At around 1:45 she rounded a corner and saw a mansion. It had a big black and gold gate and a long driveway surrounded by perfectly landscaped gardens. She looked down at her phone and realised that she had arrived at the Swanson house. Wow. As she approached the gate a man in a uniform opened it for her and directed her to the car park. He had a fricken' CAR PARK! She quickly checked herself in the mirror and walked to the grand double front door and rang the very dramatic, old fashioned bell. A rather grand looking woman answered who looked somewhat like she belonged at the Queen's tea party. Something about the woman scared her and Beca tried to stand up straighter.

"Hello," said the woman in an accent that could cut glass.

"Hello, um, good afternoon, um, I'm here to see, um, Jesse, um, Mr Swanson, um, he invited me," she managed to choke out, not sure how to address this woman.

"Ah, you are _Master_ Swanson's guest," she said pointedly but with a warm smile and a little laugh. Beca relaxed just a small amount. "Follow me dear, he's in the conservatory."

The woman led them down a corridor covered in portraits and chandeliers and Beca didn't think that Jesse had been specific enough when he'd said 'fancy.' She looked in though many ornate doors into rooms with ceilings taller that her house decorated with Victorian wallpaper and antique furniture. Finally they reached they end of the corridor and the woman pushed open a door. The buzz of noise that came from the conservatory was posh, if noise can be posh. It was all 'polite conversations' and 'haven't you growns' and 'did you hear the awful news about dear old Humbert?'

"Over there dear," the woman pointed to a woman in a floral dress who was talking to a young man in a suit. Beca walked over but didn't know if she was allowed to interrupt. She moved behind the woman so that only Jesse could see her and allowed him to take the lead.

"Ah Rebecca!" he said. Why was he calling her that? He came towards her and faux kissed both her cheeks. "Aunty, this is Rebecca, my guest for this afternoon."

"Well hello dear. So lovely to finally meet lady of Jesse's. I'm Sylvia, Jesse's aunt."

Beca didn't know what to do. She looked at Jesse and he mouthed "be fancy."

"Hello, Sylvia, a delight to meet you." The accent that came out of Beca's mouth was unexpected. She seemed to have just elevated herself into the aristocracy.

"Now dear, tell me, where do you study?"

"Ah aunty, don't interrogate her just yet, she's only just arrived! Would you mind giving us a moment? I'd like to get Rebecca a drink and then introduce her. You'll have your time to question her later I'm sure.!

"Well of course dear. Enjoy yourself. Pleasure, Rebecca."

Beca nodded and smiled and Jesse walked them over to a quiet corner.

"I am so so so sorry."

"Dude what the fuck have you brought me into?"

"Please don't swear, I need this to go well."

"What am I don't here?"

"Well basically, my family have a garden party every summer where the entire Swanson bloodline is invited and—"

"I'm sorry," Beca cut him off, "Bloodline? What are you, some kind of lord?"

"Well, yes. My Dad is Lord Swanson and I will be next…" he trailed off seeing Beca's horrified face. "Look, every year I turn up alone. In the circles that my family run in, young men are supposed to have ladies that they court. Every year I show up alone, is every year I get set up on awful dates with aristocrats' daughters. I can't stand it. I was going to invite my girl friend but she broke up with me about 4 weeks ago. I'd told everyone that this was the year I would have a guest."

"And, why, may I ask, would you pick me to be your guest. This is so not my scene dude."

"Okay, first off, the 'dude' is gonna have to stop. And second, pretty much all the girls I know are either from uni or at a different uni. You're as good as the only person I know who's still in Barden. On top of that, you're kind, funny, talented, clever, pretty, we have a laugh, you're a good actor so I know you can pull it off, we don't know each other well enough for you to embarrass me, and we have a plausible story of how we met: a friend of mine from orchestra is one of your best friends, we met about a year ago, and then again a few months ago. The only thing we need to add on is that we've been in touch since then and 1 month ago I asked you out. Oh and by the way, we went to the theatre and a nice restaurant and I behaved like the perfect gentleman," he finished, nodding.

Beca stood there trying to process. "So basically I'm here for you to parade to your family?"

"Yes, and it would be really really great if you could play along. You don't even need to talk to that many of them, just be seen around and answer questions politely. Look, I'll introduce you to my brother. Hey, Benji!" he called over Beca's head and a boy appeared within seconds. "This is Beca, could you introduce her to all the cousins and make sure one of you is with her at all times, I gotta go laugh at unfunny jokes." And with that, he dashed off.

"Hey, I'm Benji, Jesse explained the whole situation to me, let me introduce you to the cousins. We're all about the same age which is really nice, so they'll help make this slightly less unbearable." He smiled awkwardly at her and lead them into the crowd.

First, she met Aubrey, the overachieving 'oh, your dress is from a high street brand? How…original."

Then there was Luke, the handsome one who played tennis at the club and rugby for his college.

There was Bumper, the rebel of the family. Beca got the distinct impression that his family's money had had to pay to cover up some of his more embarrassing moments.

She then met Jessica and Ashley, the twins. Beca could picture how they would have been dressed in the same outfit when they were younger and paraded.

"And that just leaves one, um…" he craned his neck and looked around. "Ah, there she is, this is Chloe."

* * *

 **Hey! I really hope you enjoyed! This was basically just setting the scene and we will see Beca and Chloe's first interaction in the next chapter, hopefully very soon!**

 **xx**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: THE MEETING

"Ah there she is. This, is Chloe," said Benji touching his hand to her shoulder. She spun gracefully, long red hair spinning outwards.

Ah, there she is indeed thought Beca.

"Hi," said Chloe beaming at Beca. Beca felt butterflies in her stomach. "You must be Jesse's date, Rebecca right?"

"Um, Beca is good. And only sort of, he didn't want to be set up with anymore girls so he asked me to come and be his lady."

"Oh wow, so, did you know what kind of event this was going to be?"

"Absolutely no idea," Beca confessed. "All he said was to 'dress fancy,' and I'm not even sure I achieved that right."

"I thin you look just fine," she said with a wink.

"Yeah well not according to your cousin Aubrey."

"Yeah well Aubrey's got a stick up her ass so don't worry about her."

Beca was taken aback by the informal language and couldn't refrain a small giggle.

"Ah Benjamin!" called a clear cut voice.

"Gotta run," said Benji looking horrified. "Look after her?" he asked Chloe.

Chloe nodded. "It was unfair of my cousin to bring you here. He really shouldn't have done that. But, if it's any consolation, I'm pleased I met you."

Beca couldn't help the smile spreading on her face. "You too. How do you stand these things? I've literally been here less than an hour and I'm already bored and my mouth hurts from fake smiling."

Chloe laughed and Beca thought she had never seen anyone more beautiful. The more she looked at Chloe, the more she noticed things about her that she would never on any other person. The blue of her eyes, the way her hair fell effortlessly around her shoulders and how her smile started from her cheeks. The way that she moved even when she was standing still, as though her whole body was alive with music and rhythm.

"I pretend I'm living in Downton Abbey, and I'm one of the ladies of the house. It makes these events a lot more bearable if you have a narrative running along."

"I've never seen it," Beca admitted.

"Well, first off, offended. But second, you really don't need to have, just give everyone a character. See that woman," she pointed to a pristine woman, "she's the leader of that group. Watch her, everything she does they will copy."

Beca looked as the woman reached for a canapé and every other woman around her followed suit. They laughed when she did and followed in a crocodile behind her. They all nodded in agreement to anything she said seemed even to have copied her outfit themes.

"Huh," said Beca smiling. "She's like the head bitch in school.

Chloe laughed again and Beca made a mental note that she needed to keep being funny because she most definitely needed to hear that laugh again. "Okay, and look over there. That man, the one in the oversized tux, he has a constant cold and people turn around when they see him.

"Haha, so he's like the wimpy kid who everyone avoids. The one that was rumoured to have wet himself and is probably actually quite a nice kid if anyone could get past the fact that his mum dressed him, but in high school, sadly no one can," she looked wistfully into the distance in mock wondering.

Chloe giggled again. "Okay! So that's your narrative. If you see this whole room as high school, then you can start to figure out the people to avoid, the people to seek out. It's like Janice's map of the dining hall in Mean Girls.

"Never seen it," Beca said with a shy smile.

"What?! What?! No way! Offended on two counts now." She feigned turning away with her arms crossed but Beca grabbed her hand and puller her back.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Continue."

With a jokey huff she did. "You can make up stories between characters. Look so like, he's the most popular guy in school and she's queen bitch like you said, so think about it like they're dating but they don't actually like each other cause he's boring as hell and she's mean and then he," she pointed out another man," is secretly in love with her but she doesn't know he exists. Once you decide on a story, their interactions become much funnier."

Beca watched as the woman brushed past the supposedly in love with her man without even acknowledging his existance. The two girls made eye contact and smiled.

"Aha, you're right. I can see how that would help. So what, I'm the rebellious new comer who everyone is secretly trying to work out if they like or hate?" she asked and the two girls suddenly became aware that the whole room was alive with people trying to surreptitiously glance at Beca.

"Apparently so," mused Chloe. "So who would I be?"

"Oh easy. You would be that girl who everyone wants to hate because she's popular and pretty but who no one can because she's the most lovely person in the school. Pretty much everyone is in love with her at least a little bit," said Beca, forgetting herself, "and to the new girl, she's probably the most beautiful person she's ever seen…" Beca trailed off, realising that this had become slightly awkward.

"You think I'm beautiful," said Chloe with an amused look on her face.

"Um…no. I don't recall saying that," responded Beca defensively.

"You think I'm gorgeous, you want to kiss me, you want to hug me, you want to love me, hug me and marry me," Chloe laughed.

Beca looked confused.

"Miss Congeniality?!" she practically yelled. "No? Seriously, no? What even are you? How have you not seen these films? That's it, you've offended me one time too many." She began to walk away but Beca ran to catch up.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. What if I promised you I'd watch them tonight when I get home? Would that help?"

"It _would._ If I trusted that you would do it. Nope, nope, it's settled. You're staying over tonight and we are watching them together."

"No you don't need to do that," Beca protested.

" _Need_ to! _Need!_ It would be more than a pleasure to. Plus, it's not like we don't have the space," she gestured around.

Beca couldn't deny that and so, against her better judgement, she found herself texting her dad to let him know that she wouldn't be coming home that night.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you're enjoying! Let me know**

 **xx**


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The rest of the party went on much the same. Beca was paraded around all the relatives and explained time and time again that, 'no, she was not currently at university, but yes she did have plans to go, and yes, Jesse was amazing to have got into the Royal College of Music, and oh it was just so lovely to get to meet Jesse's aunt…and uncle…and god parents…and distant cousins.'

By the time it got to 7, Beca was exhausted. Slowly, the guests began to "remove themselves" to go home. Beca was kissed on the cheek about a hundred times she would wager. Finally, when the majority of the guests had left, those remaining were staying the night, Jesse's mother allowed the cousins and Beca (who, might I add she was "just delighted was staying the night!") to go into the East wing, they had a fricken EAST WING!, relax. They collapsed into sofas and Jesse put some mindless show on on the TV. They ordered pizza.

"So, you survive?" asked Jesse.

"My back hurts from standing so straight, my mouth is twitching from smiling so much, and my brain feels numb for all the posh talking."

"Sounds about right," he commented. "I'll show you where you're staying. Thank you, Beca. You did well." He winked and they left. "So this will be your room tonight, if you wanna change, we're all getting into pyjamas so… When you're done I'll just be downstairs. If you're not here when the pizza arrives then, well, we shall assume you are lost somewhere in the house and send an immediate search party out to find you!" he joked.

Beca smiled, "thanks Jesse, I appreciate that," she said in her most sarcastic voice.

"Anytime," he retorted. "Oh, and by the way, Chloe's room is the one just down the hall on the right if you need anything."

Beca nodded and he left. She sat down on the bed and took off her high heels. She turned on her music and started changing. She took down her hair and shook it out, removed her makeup, and then went in search of a bathroom. About 2 meters out her door, she bumped into Chloe. The girl looked stunning. Her hair fell loosely over her shoulders, having been taken down from its intricate style. She stood in checked pyjamas, her face now clean and free from makeup.

Beca stood in slightly stunned silence, before managing to utter out the word, "bathroom?"

Chloe laughed. "Follow me. This house is pretty confusing. It was amazing for hide-and-seek growing up though. I'll wait out here," she said, "then we can go down together."

* * *

At around 10pm the pizza was finished and Beca found that she had been really rather enjoying herself. As soon as everyone had relaxed from the formality of the party and were now fighting over who got the last slice or "stop being in my personal space!" the whole atmosphere felt much more familiar. Beca was sitting next to Jesse but with Chloe's legs draped over her. Chloe would occasionally sit forwards to reach another slice of pizza or to get her drink and throw an arm casually around Beca's shoulders. Everytime she did, Beca would get this strange feeling in the pit of her stomach and she was always miss the connection as soon as it went away.

At some point, someone suggested that they break into Jesse's dad's alcohol cabinet and "get this party really started." Everyone seemed to think this was a good plan and soon the party started back up again, except this one was much more relaxing than earlier. In fact, it was probably the most relaxing party Beca had ever been to. Everyone in that room was so comfortable with each other, they had grown up together after all. Sure there were minor arguments, but they all just felt like sibling squabbles, and there was no pressure. No one in the room was trying to get with anyone, or prove themselves and Beca decided that she actually really liked this family.

At some point, a game of never have I ever was suggested. They all sat in a circle and Jesse started.

"Never have I ever…kissed a boy."

"Classic starter," Bumper whispered to Ashley.

All the girls took a drink and so did Luke. The boys all turned to look at him in mock horror.

"What? I went to an All Boys Public Boarding School," he said jokily.

"So did we all," added Jesse. "So did we all."

"Stop shaming Luke," piped in Aubrey, who was his younger sister.

"I'm not ashamed," added Luke, shrugging.

The game continued much the same way on into the evening. Beca found that the cousins all knew each other too well for this game to be fair. Bumper was practically flat on the floor by the time they decided to stop, all of them having ganged up on him, saying things they knew only he had done: had sex in public, been drunk in front of his parent, been expelled from school, etc. Chloe also got her own share to directed comments. But she, just like Luke, seemed to have an amazing ability to laugh them off. Beca learned rather a lot about her now found crush that evening (although Beca would never admit that that's what Chloe had started to become).

At around 2 in the morning, they decided to call it quits. They were all a bit shaky on first standing and Beca and Chloe clung onto each other in order to make it up the stairs. Once they were up Chloe said:

"You know, we never got to watch those films!"

"Oh no," Beca said in dramatic sarcasm. She turned to go into her room.

"Oh no, you don't get away that easily," Chloe said grabbing Beca's hand to pull her back round. Beca's stomach flipped at Chloe's touch. "We," she said pointedly, "will just have to do it another time," she giggled and winked. "Good night Beca." And she slowly stepped away until their contact was broken and then danced up the hall to her bedroom.

Beca stood by her door. "Oh crap."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiya! So, this chapter wasn't really in the original plan for this story (not that I have that much of a plan, lat's be honest) but I was inspired by the weather outside my bedroom window. This is really just a bit of fun this chapter so I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!**

 **Happy snow day everybody! xx**

* * *

The next morning, Chloe awoke to someone knocking on her door. She rubbed her eyes and went to open it.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" said Beca.

Chloe smiled as she remembered the day before.

"Yeah, but that's okay," she replied. "There are worse views to wake up to," she said with a grin.

Beca was stood in an oversized t-shirt and pyjama bottoms. Her hair was in a loose bun but most of it had fallen down in front of her face and she'd had to tuck the stray strands behind her ears. She looked gorgeous.

Beca blushed, but tried to play it off as a yawn. "Yeah, um, maybe you should check outside your window before you speak too soon.

Chloe turned and opened the curtains. Snow. A think layer of snow had fallen over the world over night. She let out a long whistle and when she turned bac to Beca, she had the biggest smile on her face. She paused, looking at Beca and Beca sensed that something was about to happen.

"SNOW!" she yelled and took off down the hall. Beca tried her best to follow but Chloe knew her way around the house much better than she did. Chloe banged on various doors and soon all the cousins were tearing about the house trying to find coats and shoes and hats as fast as possible. Beca just stood in bewilderment as they all piled onto the front lawn, jumping, shrieking, and tackling each other.

"Here." A coat was thrust in front of Beca's nose and after she took it, she noticed Benji was stood next to her. He passed her some shoes as well as a scarf. "They might be a bit big," he said as he pulled on his own. "We haven't had snow all together for about 6 years, hence the excitement," he added.

"You're not excited?" asked Beca.

"Oh I am! I just thought you should get to be excited too. Jesse kinda through you into a family who all have inside jokes and I just didn't want to be the outsider; I know what it feels like."

Beca felt sorry for him and thought it was sweet that he'd waited for her. "You ready?" she asked, "race you?" And before he had time to think, Beca was off into the snow.

A snowball fight had begun, boys vs girls. Chloe pulled Beca in behind a snow wall that they had built and she fell on top of her. The two girls smiled awkwardly at each other and Jessica and Ashley exchanged a look.

"Haha," Jesse yelled, appearing behind them, brandishing two giant snowballs. He launched them and Beca grabbed Chloe's hand and the girls scattered. Beca didn't know what had suddenly made her so bold.

Beca and Chloe hid behind a large tree. "We haven't won one of these for 9 years. This is gonna be our year, I can feel it," she said squeezing Beca's hand and Beca noted how natural it felt to be holding it.

"What makes you so certain?"

"We've got you," Chloe said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Chloe noticed how Beca smiled at the compliment, and also that she still hadn't let go of Chloe's hand. They stood just avoiding each other's eyes for a few moments before Aubrey found them.

"Oh great! We need to find Jessica and Ashley and make a plan," she panted, slightly out of breath. "Then what I think we should do is that they ambush the boys from behind and take out Benji. Then Chloe, you get Jesse, I'll get Bumper, and Beca, that leaves you to get Luke."

"Dude! He's like twice my height and much more athletic I would wager," Beca said indignantly.

"So, that's the plan, I'm gonna try and find the twins and then everyone into place. Got it? Good," continued Aubrey as if she hadn't heard Beca's protests and she ran off.

"It's fine. Remember, you're the reason we're gonna win this year," Chloe said confidently.

"Or how I be the reason you loose and Aubrey will hate me forever."

"She won't hate you forever. Although it will really help if you can take down Luke, sibling rivalry and everything, it would boost her ego if he can be taken out by someone as small as you."

"I, am not, small."

"I mean you are."

"Don't try me Swanson."

"Beale."

"What?"

"Beale. I'm not a Swanson, I'm Beale. Jesse's dad and my _mum_ are cousins. My surname's Beale."

"Oh, sorry. Don't try me Beale," Beca resumed her sarcastic aggression.

"Are you guys ready?" Aubrey asked from across the lawn.

"On it!" called back Chloe. "You stand over there, I'll be just there," Chloe pointed. She pulled Beca into a hug that Beca wasn't prepared for and her stomach flipped. "You can do this!" she ran off.

Jessica and Ashley began their attack, sneaking up n the boys from behind. Jesse, Bumper, and Luke scattered but not before the girls got a few fistfuls of snow down their backs. They then turned their attention to Benji who fell in surrender within moments. He lay, defeated, covered in snow. The girls sat down next to him and watched the rest of the fight play out. Aubrey came a Bumper from the right. She seemed to have built a pile of snowballs about the same height as herself and was firing them faster than Beca could count directly into Bumper's face. He himself had one single snowball left and he sunk, defeated to his knees. Chloe, meanwhile had gone for a different approach; instead of many small snowballs, she had created one giant one and had found a small hill to place it on. As Jesse ran at her- she was hidden by the snow, - she pushed it casually down the hill. Jesse had just time to turn before it hit him face on, however this was a mistake. He had not had time to get out of its path and it hit the back of his legs, causing his knees to buckle and he lay, face down in the snow. Luke used the confusion to get away and came sprinting towards a tree. He took refuge behind it, thinking he could not be seen. Chloe looked around. She could not see Luke or Beca and began to wonder what on earth had happened. Just then, she heard a scream. The sort of high pitched scream that little girls are stereotyped to do. It was not a little girl however. It was Luke. Luke who had just received someone tipping about four tonne of snow down the back of his neck. He looked up and there was Beca, sitting in the branches of the tree, holding another handful of snow, waiting for his next move. Luke looked down, and got onto the floor. The girls had won.

Chloe came over to see what had happened.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed at seeing Beca. "Well done!" she commented proudly.

"Yeah, um, that's great, but um, do you think you could help me down?"

* * *

The snow had really started to set in and soon after the snowball fight, they had all trooped inside. Beca checked her phone. 7 missed calls. All from her dad. Crap.

"Hey Dad."

"Beca, oh thank god! I thought maybe you'd tried to drive home!"

"I'm not stupid."

"Well, I'm so pleased you're okay, Beca."

"Yeah, sorry, we got into a snowball fight and I kinda lost track of everything."

"Ah," he replied knowingly. "Sounds like you really like this boy eh?"

Beca stood confused for a second. The she remembered that all she told her dad was that she maybe had a sort of date thing with one of Stacie's friends. "Oh, no Dad. I mean, he's nice and like, a friend and all but, nothing more."

"Well something special must have happened to get you to voluntarily take part in cold physical excursion."

"Har har, very funny," Beca mocked sarcastically, although secretly she knew exactly what special thing had happened to her, or who, that it. "Look Dad, I don't know if I'll be home today or not. I'll let you know, but I'm safe!"

"Alright Beca, love you!"

"Love you too."

Beca came back out of the room she'd been in. Everyone had left to some other part of the house except for Chloe. Chloe was sat at a large grand piano, picking out notes. Beca recognised the intro to Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars and stood in the doorway listening as Chloe began to sing. It was beautiful. She had the most gorgeous voice Beca had ever heard and part of her hated herself for falling for Chloe, but she knew she was. Beca kept listening and at some point, not knowing what came over her, she started her own melody. She joined in with Just a Dream and Chloe whipped her head around at the sound of Beca's voice. They continued on together until eventually sinking into a comfortable silence.

"Wow," Chloe said eventually.

Beca smiled. "You have," she took a breath, "the most beautiful voice."

The two girls kept looking at each other. It almost, almost felt like their faces were moving closer. The world seemed to disappear around the piano stool that they sat on until it was only them.

A loud crash came from the next door room and they were out of it. The temporary trance had been broken and the awkwardness grew both girls knowing what might have nearly happened maybe, but neither sure if the other had felt it.

"Um, we should, um, I'm mean…I was gonna show you those films!" she finally got out, pleased she had found something to say, and not used to not.

"Yeah!" Beca said enthusiastically. Under normal circumstances she would not have been excited about being forced to watch a movie, however the awkwardness had grown too much and she was pleased to have something else to do. The thought of getting to cuddle next to Chloe wasn't half bad either…


	5. Chapter 5

**So so sorry it has taken so long to update! I was away and then I was busy and you know. But anyway, here is the next chapter! I'm starting to get an idea of where I want to take this story but please please let me know if you have any suggestions or want to see anything happen!**

 **xx**

* * *

Beca and Chloe left to see what the crash had been. Both girls were very aware at the distance they were keeping between them. An awkward tension lingered in the air and Beca was actually kind of hoping someone had been seriously hurt so she could focus on something else.

In the next room, chaos. Bumper, it seemed had launched himself at Aubrey after she had insulted him.

"I believe her exact words were 'you are an egotistical, big-headed, garbage dirtball,'" said Jesse when Beca and Chloe asked what was going on.

The crash had been Aubrey stepping causally to the side while Bumper continued head long into a cabinet, causing a vase to break.

Luke went over to check if he was all right and after deciding that he was, promptly called him an idiot, hit the back of his head, and went to get a dustpan and brush. It had been one of the stranger mornings of Beca's life.

* * *

Beca and Chloe headed upstairs. The awkwardness seemed to have cleared slightly after the hilarity of Bumper's attack.

"So, if I remember correctly, you said you haven't seen Mean Girls or Miss Congeniality?"

"I have not," Beca resigned.

"Perfect! I love an excuse to watch these!"

Chloe put Mean Girls on on her laptop and the two sat in silence. Chloe had squished herself right next to Beca. Beca was trapped with the wall on one side and Chloe on the other and while this normally would have made her run, she felt quite content to sit peacefully.

After both films had finished, both the girls were asleep.

* * *

Downstairs, the madness had not stopped. It had, in fact, been encouraged by the surprise arrival of Stacie.

Stacie was in college a few hours away and didn't come to Barden to visit that often. However, with the predictions on the snow, she had got on a train to come visit her family before she was stranded at University. She had then tried to visit Beca, who lived just across the street but had been told by Mr Mitchel that he thought Beca was with a friend of hers. It had taken Stacie a minute to realise who he meant. She couldn't believe Jesse had actually invited Beca to his fancy family's fancy party, so she made the long walk over to Jesse's.

When Jesse had opened the door to Stacie, he had nearly screamed. She'd been one of his best friends since they were about seven years old. They'd both gone to a prestigious music academy on the weekends and they, and a few others, had become very good friends. His excitement had been cut short when Stacie had pushed past him and declared:

"I can't believe you!"

"What? What did I do?"

"You actually brought Beca to play as your girlfriend?!"

"Oh…yeah…I did do that," he said sheepishly. "In my defence, it was your idea!"

"It was a joke dude!"

"I'm sorry I panicked."

Jesse loved Stacie to bits, but at times, she did scare him.

"It's fine, I'm over it," she said brushing it away, "where is Beca though anyway?"

"Um she went upstairs a couple of hours ago with Chloe, I think they were gonna watch a movie…"

"Chloe?" said Stacie. "Your really hot cousin Chloe?" Jesse nodded slowly. "Way to go Beca!"

"Dude no, they're not…they're just friends!" Jesse replied indignantly. Although Beca had just been a front to show his family, he wouldn't deny that at some point he had thought he might ask Beca out. He also didn't want to think of his cousin as hot. Ew, no.

"Uh huh," Stacie hummed suggestively. "Bet you 10 bucks that they get together."

"You're on!"

Stacie wasn't worried. She knew Beca way better than Jesse and knew that Beca wouldn't watch a movie for just anyone.

Stacie and Jesse headed upstairs to Chloe's room. There was no sound coming from behind the door. They knocked quietly and after there was no answer, Stacie pushed the door open. The sight that met them was of Beca, her head resting on Chloe's shoulder and of Chloe, her legs casually draped over Beca's.

"I win," Stacie mouthed at Jesse as they both quietly backed out of the room.

"Yeah alright," Jesse conceded, handing over a 10 dollar bill. Stacie pocketed it, then turned back into the room, and before Jesse could stop her, launched herself at the bed.

Beca and Chloe woke with a start, looking wildly around.

"A well hello," Stacie smiled.

"Oh my god Stacie!" Beca screamed, "what the hell are you doing here?!" Beca pushed herself free and off the bed to hug her best friend.

Chloe watched the reunion. She watched Beca. She loved how much Beca loved her best friend.

"Um this is Chloe," Beca said suddenly.

"Hi, yeah, we have met before actually," said Stacie. "You came to one of mine a Jesse's concerts."

"Yeah I remember. You're an amazing cellist. It's nice to meet you again."

Beca watched Chloe smile and smiled too.

"So…" Stacie said, watching the small interaction between the girls, "you've been…watching a movie…" she wiggled her eyebrows at Beca.

"Yeah we just fell asleep," Beca replied, confused.

"You just…fell asleep," Stacie continued in the same suggestive tone of voice. "Nothing else..?"

"…No…"

"Wait really no? So you guys are just friends?" Stacie said, slightly taken aback that she might be being proven wrong.

"Yeah, I mean…what did you think..?" Beca said slightly worried about what Stacie's answer would be."

"Oh nothing, don't worry. Let just go downstairs, I'm starving."

Beca and Chloe lead the way and Jesse held out his hand. Stacie handed over 20 bucks and made a face.

* * *

Beca and Stacie decided to go out to find some early dinner and Beca said goodbye to all the cousins.

"I'll be back to pick up my car once the snow clears," she told Jesse.

"You really can just stay if you want. It's a long walk back to yours," he responded. He lied having Beca around the house.

"Yeah I know, but I literally brought one outfit with me other than the dress you made me wear so I really should be getting home."

Chloe offered to walk the girls to the front door and once they were there, Stacie stepped outside on the pretence of calling her dad to say she and Beca would be home after dinner. She looked subtly behind her at Beca and Chloe. She knew she would be winning that tenner back off Jesse.

"Bye," Beca said

"Bye, Beca," said Chloe, pausing on Beca's name in a way that made her heart stop.

Chloe pulled her into a hug. It lasted a small infinity but still didn't feel like quite long enough. Just as Beca was about to turn to leave, Chloe kissed her on the cheek. They smiled briefly at each other, and Beca turned this time, and left.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiya! SO sorry it's taken so long for this update; I really have no excuse, I've just bee binge watching Friends all week. Thank you guys so much for the comments, I really really appriciate it. Enjoy!**

 **xx**

* * *

"Okay, so…talk to me about Chloe," Stacie said.

She and Beca had arrived at the diner about 10 minutes before and were waiting for their food. They'd done general catching up; _how's college? What you been up to? Etc?_ And now Stacie had asked the question Beca felt might have been coming.

"Chloe?" she said acting surprised, "she's cool, ya know, she's, she's been friendly, she was nice."

"Cut the crap Beca. You like her."

"What? No I don't! I mean, sure, did she make the party more fun than it would have been otherwise? Yeah, she did. And, you know, did I have a really nice time with her? Yeah, 'cause she's a really nice person! And, have I not been able to stop picturing her in my head since we said goodbye? That's right I absolutely have not because oh my god is she the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my entire life!" Beca looked at the table.

"So…that would be a no. You don't like this girl, you're practically in love with her," Stacie joked.

"I really like her Stace. I don't know what to do! I don't even know if she likes girls. And you saw her, even if she did she is way WAY out of my league."

"I mean, I will not disagree with you there, that is probably the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen," Stacie teased, "but as for liking you? I wouldn't worry. She may not like girls but the way she looked at you means she definitely likes A girl."

"You really think so?"

"Oh for sure! But Beca?" Beca looked up, "you know I'm going to take the piss out of you for this, right?"

Their food arrived and their afternoon went on much the same until it faded into evening. The girls left the diner knowing they still had at least a half hour walk back to Beca's in the snow.

"So, in all seriousness Stacie? What do I do? I have no reason to ever see this girl again."

Stacie looked at Beca, "yes you do Bec. You go back over to pick up your car and you ask her out."

"Phh," Beca scoffed, "we both know that I am not you Stacie."

"I know, that's why I said you ask her out and not, 'you jump her and have sex.'"

Beca blushed. A lot.

"Well thank you for making it more innocent, but I can't ask her out, not just like that anyway."

"Okay then, you ask her for her number. That's easy, right? You just say that you had a really nice time and if she's ever in town visiting Jesse again then to text you. Then you use the fact that she gave you her number to text and be like," Stacie made her voice all high pitched in an attempt to mimic Beca, "'hi this is Beca, hope you've had a good day!' then because she likes you and is WAY smoother than you are, she'll send back something like," again Stacie edited her voice to mimic, only this time it was overly cheery, "'OMG TOTALLY! Made better by seeing you this morning ? we should totes meet up. I don't leave until Sunday, are you free tomorrow? Xxxxx' to which you respond 'yeah I would love to see you because I am so totally in love with you—"

Stacie stopped once Beca punched her in the are and she fell off the curb that she didn't know was there.

"Come on Bec! It's not that hard!"

"…Fine, okay, I guess I can do that."

"That's my girl! That's my girl," said Stacie, jumping back onto the pavement and onto Beca, chucking a load of snow down her neck as she did so.

'Now,' thought Beca, 'she just had to wait for the bloody snow to melt.

* * *

Two days later, the majority of the snow had gone and Beca's father deemed it was safe enough for her to pick up her car. He had been surprised at the level of excitement from Beca when he'd said this. He knew she was attached to her car, but really, she didn't travel far enough on a regular basis to have missed it as much as she seemed to.

Beca had texted Stacie to see if she wanted to come with to the Swanson household but she had declined, claiming Beca needed to 'go get her girl' on her own. And so, Beca began the long walk. It was going to take her at least an hour and a half to get there. She considered taking a bus but, in the end, decided that she would quite like the alone-time after being trapped in her house with her dad for the last two days, with Stacie as her only respite. She put on her playlist and forgot about everything. About 40 minutes into her journey, one of her own mixes came on. It was a mashup of the songs _Just the Way You Are_ and _Just a Dream._ Beca thought back to a few days previously and butterflies began to form in her stomach at the thought of seeing Chloe again. She changed the track; this was no time to get nervous. She knew that is she got nervous, she would turn around, ask Jesse to drop her car back for her, never see Chloe again… That thought alone kept Beca walking forward and before she knew it, she had reached the large gates marking the entrance to Jesse's house.

Beca walked up the long driveway, feeling herself getting more and more anxious until she reached the door. She knocked, and a woman answered.

"Hello," she said in a friendly voice.

"Hi, I'm Beca." She stood. "Jesse's friend." She added. "I stayed here a couple nights ago because I couldn't drive home. But I'm here to pick up my car now. I just wanted to say hi…" Beca didn't know if she needed to continue.

"Of course, Beca," the woman said, after watching Beca struggle. Her face cracked into a smile and Beca felt slightly less awkward. "I do remember you, you're Jesse's friend," she winked on the word friend and Beca remembered that the whole of Jesse's family thought that they were dating. Beca didn't know whether to explain or not, maybe Jesse needed to keep up the pretence? So she just stayed quiet. "I'm Jesse's mother," she extended her hand, "Jesse, Benji, and all the cousins are in the living room, I'll take you through."

Beca followed her through the house, past the piano where she and Chloe had sung together, past the room where the party had taken place, and into the room where the after party had taken place.

"Knock knock," said Jesse's mum, "Jesse, someone's here to see you."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm so so so sorry this has taken so long and that this is so short. Please let me know!**

 **xx**

* * *

Jesse turned around.

"Becawww!" he exclaimed. Chloe's head whipped round at the sound of Beca's name. This did not go unnoticed by Aubrey who subtly smiled to herself.

Beca hardly noticed Jesse, her eyes darting to Chloe.

"I um…I'm here to pick up my car."

"Oh okay," Jesse said, "you wanna stay to play some video games?"

"Aha," Beca forced a smile, her nerves getting the better of her, "I should probably just head off."

"N'kay," Jesse mumbles while still playing his game. "Thanks, Beca, see you when I'm back over the summer?"

Beca and Jesse's friendship had grown a lot and Beca didn't doubt that they would stay in touch, even if it was only through Stacie.

"Alright, bye Jess. Um…nice to meet you all!" She waved and most of the cousins (bar Bumper and Jesse) got up to say goodbye. Chloe was the last and by the time she reached Beca, everybody else had sat back down and Chloe slipped out the door pulling Beca with her without anyone noticing.

Chloe walked Beca to the door just as she had a few days before and then stopped in front of the door so Beca couldn't get out.

"I can't believe this is over," said Chloe pulling Beca in for a big hug.

Beca smiled into Chloe and hugged her back.

"I don't go back to uni for another couple of days, are you free?"

"Yeah, I am," Beca replied, amazed that Chloe seemed to be doing the hard work for her.

"Cool! Give me your number and we can meet!"

Beca gave Chloe her number and had to try and control the smile that was threatening to spread across her face.

"I'm so glad I met you! I really don't want to lose this."

And for just a second, both girls stood, relishing the last moments together and feeling the sincerity on the relationship they had started to form.

"I'll text you!" Chloe broke the silence.

Beca walked to her car and as she opened the door she received a text:

 **Unknown Number:** Miss you already

Beca squealed, yes, squealed, and began the journey home.

* * *

Beca and Chloe had been texting for the last day and a bit and Stacie was pushing Beca to ask her out.

"Can't do that Stace, you have met me right?"

"I'll do it," Stacie said grabbing Beca's phone.

Beca tackled her, but Stacie was too tall and by the time Beca had her phone back, a text had been sent.

 **To Chloe:** Do wanna go out at some point? There's a really nice café in Barden town centre?

"STACIE!"

"Well, someone had to do it."

Beca was about to respond when her phone buzzed. Both her and Stacie leaped for it. This time, Beca got there first. She held it close to her chest to look at the message.

"Out."

"What?"

"Out. You need to go now," said Beca pointing towards the door and pushing Stacie.

"Fine. But I wanna know all the details of your date," she skipped out the room.

Beca looked back towards her phone.

 **Chloe:** Omg yes! Been looking for the right time to ask, thank god you did it! I'm free anytime from 4 o'clock today until midday on Thursday.

 **Chloe:** xx

That only gave her 3 days, thought Beca. Would it be too pushy to suggest meeting that afternoon? Before she could think too much on that…

 **Chloe:** Are you free this afternoon?

 **Chloe:** xx

 **Beca:** Yeah, I am! Meet at 4:30? At Independent Mind?

 **Chloe:** Sounds wonderful

 **Chloe:** xx


	8. Chapter 8

**GUYS! I am so super sorry this is like 4 months late! My bad, I went away and then stuff happened but here you! The date!**

 **xx**

* * *

This afternoon. THIS AFTERNOON! Beca's heart was racing. She hadn't actually been expecting Chloe to yes. Well, she hadn't even been expecting to ask Chloe out, that was Stacie's fault and as much as Beca hated to admit it, Stacie had been right about asking Chloe out. She also hated to admit that she probably needed Stacie's help. Beca picked up her jacket; Stacie wouldn't have gone too far. She flung open her bedroom door and there was Stacie, a guilty look on her face.

"Dude!" cried Beca.

Stacie made a face, "sorry, but I was headed downstairs when I heard you squeal and I've only heard you squeal about 3 times in the 15 years we've known each other so I wanted to make sure you weren't dying."

"I'm not dying. But I do need your help. I'm meeting Chloe this afternoon!"

"THIS AFTERNOON?! You're right, you do need my help."

"Yeah! I've got 3 hours before I need to leave."

"Okay, what are you gonna wear? What make up are you doing? Do you need to get her something?"

"I don't know Stacie! I don't know!"

An hour and most of Beca's wardrobe later, Beca was ready. Well, she looked ready, emotionally, she was panicking.

"Beca, calm down! You've spent time with her before."

Beca looked unsure.

"Beca! She's seen you awkwardly talking fancy family members AND early in the morning. Trust me, if she still wants to date you after seeing that, then she'll want to date you after you have a nice chill time at your favourite café."

"Okay fair," said Beca laughing, "I am not a morning person."

"You do not need to tell me," said Stacie, "okay, now are you gonna bring anything? I don't know if it's that kind of date."

"Actually, I had an idea about that. We sang this mashup together once and I made a mix of it a few days ago, I thought I might put that on a memory stick for her."

"Aw Beca, you ARE a hopeless romantic!"

"Shut up."

* * *

Stacie had stayed with Beca until it was time for her to go to try and keep her distracted. It sort of worked and Beca left her house at 4 feeling confident and with a promise to Stacie to call her afterwards.

Beca arrived a few minutes early to the café and headed over to order.

"Hi Beca," said the barista, "black coffee no sugar?"

"That's the one, thanks Emily!"

Emily reached over for a take away cup. "Oh, no. I'm staying in today."

"Yeah? But you don't have your laptop?" said Emily, who been serving Beca about twice a week for a year now and knew that Beca only ever stayed in to work on mixes.

"Meeting someone today."

"Oh yeah? Alright then," and she took one of the mugs instead. "I'll bring it over to you, that's alright."

Beca went and sat down. She took out her phone to check the time: 4:26. She put it down. She quickly checked snapchat and Instagram; nothing knew, and then checked the time again: 4:27. Emily brought over her coffee and Beca thanked her. Then she checked her phone. Nothing knew, the time: 4:28. She tried to take a sip of her coffee, but it was far too hot, and she burnt her mouth. She curled her tongue over on itself and made a face. A soft laugh came from a few feet away and Beca looked up. There was Chloe who had apparently watched Beca burn herself.

"Hi," said Beca, awkwardly waving. Chloe came over and Beca stood up. They hugged briefly.

"It's really good to see you Beca," she smiled.

"You too," Beca smiled back. "How have you been?"

"Really well thank you! Luke and Aubrey left yesterday and Bumper and the twins are leaving tomorrow, then I go on Thursday."

"The house must feel pretty empty at the moment."

"It does! I can't imagine how Jesse and Benji survive with so much space!"

"Oh yeah, 'cause I'm sure your house it tiny coming from that much money," Beca joked.

"Haha, okay, fair enough. But it's not as big as theirs I promise!"

"Uh huh," Beca provoked, taking a sip of her coffee, enjoying teasing Chloe.

"You'll just have to come over one day and see."

Beca coughed and spat out some of her coffee, covering her mouth quickly. She had not expected Chloe to invite her round.

Chloe laughed yet again at Beca's misfortune. "Right, I'm going to go and get a drink, can I trust you with yours while I'm gone?"

Beca laughed. "You know I have drunk coffee before, I think I'll be fine."

The date continued, Beca enjoying the feeling of easy conversation, something which didn't happen to her very often. Suddenly she remembered, "oo, I have something for you!" Se reached into her bag and pulled out a memory stick. "Here you go," she handed it over.

"What's this?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Beca smiled.

"I'm a pretty impatient person Beca."

"You know I did live with you for several days, I am aware."

"Rude," said Chloe in mock offense.

After over 3 and a half of sitting and talking, Emily came over to their table to tell the girls that the café was about to close. Neither of them had even noticed that they were the only people left and it had started to get dark outside.

"How are you getting home?" asked Beca, knowing that the Swanson house was quite a way away from the café.

"Well my mum dropped me off but I was planning to get the bus home…"

"Absolutely not," said Beca matter of factly.

"It's not late, Beca."

"Do you even know which bus goes near to Jesse's? Or how often they run?"

"Well…no…I guess not…But I can just phone Jesse."

"Nope, I'm driving you!"

"Beca," Chloe tried to protest.

"I'm. Driving. You."

"Okay fine," said Chloe.

"First we have to walk to my house to pick up my car, it's only like 20 minutes."

Chloe smiled, that meant a good hour left with Beca, and that was if there was no traffic. The two girls stood up from their table, said goodbye to Emily, and they left.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed and I hope I update sooner than I did last time...sorry again about that!**


End file.
